From nature writing to ecological communication:
a reconstruction of the literary tradition and genres of environmental journalism in Hungary

ABSTRACT

This paper explores strands of contemporary environmental journalism (including its literary forms) in Hungary in the wider context of literary history. Reconstructing the genealogy of environmental journalism, and the role of nature writing in it, I identify three antecedents in Hungarian literature.
First, Otto Herman (1835-1914) a Hungarian polyhistor (naturalist, biologist, zoologist and animal protection activist, ethnographer, journalist and politician) laid the groundwork for the positive representations and love of nature by emphasizing the “usefulness” of birds and other wild animals (and thus the need for the protection of them) in his many influential books and other writing. Instead of examining each species separately (which was the dominant paradigm in biology in his era), Herman’s popular science writing reflects an ecological, systemic view of the shared habitat of species, and the direct dependence of human society (e.g., traditional fishermen) on natural resources.
Between the two world wars, the tradition of “sociography” i.e., literary journalism in the form of ethnographic case studies, by Gyula Illyes (1902-1983) and many others, focused on peasant society, and emphasized the key role of agricultural-material production in agrarian lifestyle. Their description of the countryside (including the natural environment of peasants) became influential in fiction as well as cultural and political journalism.
Third, Istvan Fekete (1900-1970), author of nature and animal stories, is one of the most popular writers in Hungary. Several of his novels for young readers takes place in the swamp area next to Lake Balaton, and many of his animal stories also became ever-green popular cartoons and animations.
The second part of the paper focuses on contemporary strands of environmental journalism, including literary journalism and essays. On the one hand, I argue that eco-political movements from the 1980s motivated the emergence of an activist, green journalism. On the other hand, science journalism and essays also represents many environmental themes (especially those related to global warming).
I argue that the genres of green literary, advocacy and investigative journalism (e.g., about the risks of nuclear waste) has been all related to the green movement in Hungary until the recent authoritarian turn in Hungarian politics. In the last several years, however, authoritarian media policies reduced the space for autonomous green journalism. The paper also explores environmental journals, newsletters and green online fora in Hungary, where genres of environmental journalism, including its literary forms, may survive.